Display card for knives and the like

ABSTRACT

A display package for cutting utensils has a backing piece and a transparent cover of relatively stiff material. A portion of the cover is raised above the backing piece within which the cutting utensil is contained. A testing hole is provided in the raised portion of the cover to allow the cutting edge of the material to be tested for sharpness or keenness.

O United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,891,088 Huebner 1 June 24, 1975 [54] DISPLAY CARD FOR KNIVES AND THE 2,343,715 3/1944 Taylor", 229/87 H LIKE 2,831,573 4/1958 Cherinayfi.... 206/361 3,139,182 6/1964 Edell 206/471 [76] lnventor: Karl Heinz Huebner, Co i 3,157,280 11/1964 Perdue et a1 206/468 Ave., Scarborough, Ontario, 3,209,906 10/1965 Kraut 206/471 Canada 3,278,020 10/1966 Murphy 206/481 3,487,922 l/197O Peck 206/349 [22] F11ed: July 30, 1973 [21] App]. No.: 383,819 Primary Examiner-William Dixson, Jr.

52 us. c1. 206/349; 206/461; 206/468; ABSTRACT 206/471 A ,d1splay package for cutting utensils has a backing 51 Int. c1. B65D 85/54 Piece and a transparent cove'rlof relatively Stiff mate- [58] Field Of Search 206/461, 468, 471, 361, rial- A portion of the cover israised above the backing 20 /349 4534; 229 7 H piece within which the cutting utensil is contained. A testing hole is provided in the raised portion of the 5 References Cited cover to allow the cutting edge of the material to be UNITED STATES PATENTS tested for sharpness or keenness.

1,619,946 3/1927 Magee 206/361 8 Claims, 3 a g Figures 1 DISPLAY CARD FOR KNIVES AND THE LIKE FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to bubble and blister type packages for displaying and marketing of cutting utensils.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Packages having a cardboard backing and a transparent cover with the cover having a raised portion conforming generally to the shape of the article contained therein have been widely accepted in the marketing and displaying 'of merchandise. These packages are known as bubble packages or blister packages depending on the method of manufacture. They have the'advantage of displaying the merchandise fully while at the same time providing a neat and attractive container. As stated above, the bubble or blister cover is transparent to give the consumer a full view of the merchandise. Further, the backing usually has written thereon the name, trade mark, directions for use and/or advertising which may be readily seen through the transparent cover. The package thus presents a neat, compact, easy to handle and striking display of the merchandise. Such bubble or blister packages have been used for a variety of articles including knives. The blistered packages, however, presented a problem when it came to implements or utensils with cutting edges or elements whose usefulness is determined by the sharpness or keenness of the cutlery edges or elements. For example, it is generally accepted that anyone, especially housewives, buying knives or cutting utensils would only do so upon testing the blade or cutting element for sharpness or keenness in ascertaining its usefulness and/or quality. In order to do so, potential buyers would break open the blister package and if they found that the blade or cutting element was not to their liking, the broken package and utensilor tool would be strewn all over the display counter which rendered the merchandise unsaleable.

In order to overcome this problem, the slide blister package was developed which was basically the ordinary blister package made of two separate parts namely, the backing and the transparent cover. The transparent blister cover was slidably engaged with the cardboard backing. This allowed the potential consumer to slide open the package to test the blade or cutting element. However, there still remained the problem of putting the package back together if the buyer was not interested. Again the opened package and the knife would be strewn over the display counter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a blister package with a testing hole in the blister portion of the cover to expose a small segment of the cutting edge of a tool or utensil such as a knife to allow the cutting edge to be tested by running a finger or thumb across it to determine its sharpness or keeness, and/or quality, without opening the package.

It is another object of the invention to provide a blister backage with a testing hole therein having the blister cover slidably engaged with the backing piece.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a testing hole which follows-the contour of the bilster or bubble to provide an opening in the side and top of the blister, which opening is continuous and integral, to allow the thumb to be moved diagonally across the cutting edge or blade exposed therethrough.

' It is also an object of the inventionto provide a testing hole which exposes a minimum length of cutting edge for testing purposes. While it will be understood that the invention has utility for packaging tools and utensils of all kinds that have cutting edges such as blades, edges, teeth or rasps, for convenience the invention will be particularly described and illustrated in relation to a common knife.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the blister package with the testing hole and containing a knife.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the package and knife taken along line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the slide blister package containing a knife with the cover partially disengaged from the backing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a blister package generally designated at 10 having a cardboard backing 11 and a transparent cover 12 of a relatively stiff material such as a stiff plastic or the like. The cover 12 is provided with a blister portion-l3 having the general configuration of a knife. Mounted in the blister portion 13 is a knife 14 displayed in said package and a testing hole 15 cut in the blister portion 13 to expose knife edge 16 to facilitate testing of the blade. Testing hole 15 should be large enough to accommodate the thumb and to expose sufficient length of the cutting edge 16 for testing purposes, but not so large as to create a hazard by exposing a segment larger than necessary. This opening may be positioned anywhere along the length of the cutting blade except near the tip where the point would be exposed and would be hazardous. There is a further safety feature in that not only is the hole 15 relatively small but the knife edge is always the thickness of the cover away from the surface and the danger of cutting oneself inadvertently is minimized.

The testing hole 15 should be such that one section of the hole should be located along the side wall 17 of the blister portion 13 of the cover 12 and another section located along the top section 18 of the blister portion 13. This type of opening allows the consumer to move his thumb or finger diagonally across the cutting edge 16 for better testing. If the testing hole was located strictly along the side wall, it would be almost impossible to test the cutting edge unless the hole was sufficiently large and the knife was held such that the cutting edge was adjacent the testing hole. Similarly, if the testing hole was located strictly on the top section of the blister, the testing of the knife would be impossible.

This feature of the testing hole is particularly important where the blister portion of the package is not specifically contoured for the utensil, in which case the transparent sliding blister cover 22 which is slidably engaged with the cardboard backing 21. The blister portion and the opening are the same as those in FIG. 1 and are numbered as such.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been particularly described, it will be understood that variations may be made as will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A package for displaying a cutting utensil having a cutting edge, comprising a generally flat backing piece and a transparent cover of relatively stiff material, said cover having a generally flat peripheral portion adjacent said backing piece and a raised generally central portion integral with said flat peripheral portion, said raised portion and said backing piece defining an enclosure sufficiently large for holding said cutting utensil therein; said raised portion having a sidewall and a top section, a testing hole being provided in said raised portion and lying partly in said top section and partly in said side wall such that the edge defining said testing hole is nonplanar, said cutting edge of the utensil being placed adjacent said testing hole to allow diagonal movement of the thumb or finger across said testing hole and cutting edge for testing said cutting edge.

2. A package for displaying a cutting utensil as claimed in claim 1 wherein said transparent cover is slidably engaged with said backing piece.

3. A package for displaying a cutting utensil as claimed in claim .1 wherein said raised portion conforms to the general shape of said utensil.

4. A package for displaying a cutting utensil as claimed in claim 1 wherein said testing hole exposes a 4 minimum length of said cutting edge for testing purposes. 1

5. A package for displaying a cutting utensil as claimed in claim 1 wherein said raised portion conforms to the general shape of said utensil.

6. A package for displaying a cutting utensil as claimed in claim 1 wherein said transparent cover is slidably engaged with said backing piece.

7. A package for displaying a cutting utensil as claimed in claim 1 wherein said testing hole exposes a minimum length of said cutting edge for testing purposes.

8. A blister package for displaying a cutting utensil having a cutting edge comprising a generally flat backing piece and a transparent cover of relatively stiff material, said cover having a generally flat peripheral portion adjacent said backing piece and a raised generally central portion integral with said flat peripheral portion, said raised portion and backing piece defining an enclosure sufficiently large for holding said utensil therein;-said raised portion having a side wall and a top section, a testing hole being provided in said raised portion and lying partly in said top section and partly in said side wall such that the edge defining said testing hole is non-planar; said cutting edge of the utensil being placed adjacent said testing hole to allow diagonal movement of the thumb or finger across said testing hole and cutting edge for testing said cutting edge; said transparent cover being slidably engaged with said backing piece, said testing hole exposing a minimum length of said cutting edge for testing purposes and said raised portion conforming to the general shape of said utensil. 

1. A package for displaying a cutting utensil having a cutting edge, comprising a generally flat backing piece and a transparent cover of relatively stiff material, said cover having a generally flat peripheral portion adjacent said backing piece and a raised generally central portion integral with said flat peripheral portion, said raised portion and said backing piece defining an enclosure sufficiently large for holding said cutting utensil therein; said raised portion having a side wall and a top section, a testing hole being provided in said raised portion and lying partly in said top section and partly in said side wall such that the edge defining said testing hole is nonplanar, said cutting edge of the utensil being placed adjacent said testing hole to allow diagonal movement of the thumb or finger across said testing hole and cutting edge for testing said cutting edge.
 2. A package for displaying a cutting utensil as claimed in claim 1 wherein said transparent cover is slidably engaged with said backing piece.
 3. A package for displaying a cutting utensil as claimed in claim 1 wherein said raised portion conforms to the general shape of said utensil.
 4. A package for displaying a cutting utensil as claimed in claim 1 wherein said testing hole exposes a minimum length of said cutting edge for testing purposes.
 5. A package for displaying a cutting utensil as claimed in claim 1 wherein said raised portion conforms to the general shape of said utensil.
 6. A package for displaying a cutting utensil as claimed in claim 1 wherein said transparent cover is slidably engaged with said backing piece.
 7. A package for displaying a cutting utensil as claimed in claim 1 wherein said testing hole exposes a minimum length of said cutting edge for testing purposes.
 8. A blister package for displaying a cutting utensil having a cutting edge comprising a generally flat backing piece and a transparent cover of relatively stiff material, said cover having a generally flat peripheral portion adjacent said backing piece and a raised generally central portion integral with said flat peripheral portion, said raised portion and backing piece defining an enclosure sufficiently large for holding said utensil therein; said raised portion having a side wall and a top section, a testing hole being provided in said raised portion and lying partly in said top section and partly in said side wall such that the edge defining said testing hole is non-planar; said cutting edge of the utensil being placed adjacent said testing hole to allow diagonal movement of the thumb or finger across said testing hole and cutting edge for testing said cutting edge; said transparent cover being slidably engaged with said backing piece, said testing hole exposing a minimum length of said cutting edge for testing purposes and said raised portion conforming to the general shape of said utensil. 